38450 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 136 /Thursday, July 16, 1998 / Notices

UNITED STATES INFORMATION

AGENCY

Culturally Significant Objects Imported

for Exhibition Determinations

ACTION: Thereby determine that the

objects on the list specified below, to be

included in the exhibit, ‘‘Van Gogh’s

Van Goghs: Masterpieces from the Van

Gogh Museum, Amsterdam,’’ imported

from abroad for the temporary

exhibition without profit within the

United States, are of cultural

significance. These objects are imported

pursuant to a loan agreement with the

foreign lenders. I also determine that the

exhibition or display of the listed

exhibit objects at the National Gallery of

Art, in Washington, D.C., from on or

about October 12, 1998, to on or about

January 3, 1999, and at the Los Angeles

County Museum of Art, Los Angeles,

California, from on or about January 17,

1999, to on or about April 4, 1999, is in

the national interest. Public Notice of

these determinations is ordered to be

published in the Federal Register.

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the

following determinations: Pursuant to

the authority vested in me by the Act of

October 19, 1965 (79 Stat. 985, 22 U.S.C.

2459), Executive Order 12047 of March

27, 1978 (43 FR 13359, March 29, 1978),

and Delegation Order No. 85–5 of June

27, 1985 (50 FR 27393, July 2, 1985).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jacqueline Caldwell, Assistant General

Counsel, Office of the General Counsel,

202/619–6982, and the address is Room

700, U.S. Information Agency, 301 4Th

Street, SW, Washington, D.C. 20547–

0001.

Dated: July 10, 1998.

Les Jin,

General Counsel.

[FR Doc. 98–18929 Filed 7–15–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8230–01–M

UNITED STATES INFORMATION

AGENCY

Uniform Administrative Requirements

for Grants and Agreements With

Institutions of Higher Education,

Hospitals, and Other Nonprofit

Organizations

AGENCY: United States Information

Agency.

ACTION: Notice; request for public

comments.

SUMMARY: The United States Information

Agency has combined into one form the

Form IA–1119 (10/85)—Guidelines for

the Administration of Assistance

Awards Awarded by the United States

Information Agency and the former

Form IA–1120 (10/85)—United States

Information Agency, Office of Contracts,

General Conditions, Assistance Awards.

The combined form has been retitled

IA–1119 (04/98)—Terms and Conditions

for the Administration of United States

Information Agency Assistance Awards.

DATES: Written comments must be sent

by August 17, 1998.

Authority: This notice is issued under the

authority of 22 U.S.C. 2658 and E.O. 12048.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to USIA,

Office of Contracts, Grants Division, 301

4th Street SW., Room M22, Washington,

DC 20547.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Joyce C. Love on 202–205–8590 or

Carolyn Payne-Fuller on 202–260–3145.

Dated: July 8, 1998.

James W. Durham,

Acting Director, Office of Contracts.

Terms and Conditions for the

Administration of United States Information

Agency Assistance Awards

Table of Contents

Article I. Introduction

Article II. Assistance Awards (Grant

Agreement, Cooperative Agreement or

Letter Agreement)

Article III. Amendments

Article IV. Audits

Article V. Compliance With Federal and

State Laws

Article VI. Convict Labor

Article VII. Disputes

Article VIII. Examination of Records

Article IX. Payment of Interest on Recipients’

Claims

Article X. Refunds

Article XI. Reports

Article XII. Subcontractors and Outside

Associates and Consultants

Article XIII. Termination

Article XIV. Travel

I. Introduction

This document defines award terms

and conditions and procedures for

institutions and organizations to use in

receiving, disbursing and accounting for

funds awarded by the United States

Information Agency. Any questions

concerning these procedures should be

addressed to: U.S. Information Agency,

Office of Contracts, Grants Division, M/

KG, Washington, DC 20547, Phone:

(202) 205–5477.

II. Assistance Awards (Grant

Agreement, Cooperative Agreement or

Letter Agreement)

An agreement is formalized by a

document signed by the Grants Officer,

U.S. Government, duly appointed by the

Agency, and accepted by the recipient

institution or organization. The

agreement will contain the terms and

conditions appropriate to the purpose of

the project, and the recipient is required

to follow the provisions of the

agreement in carrying out the program.

These Terms and Conditions apply,

unless specifically modified or deleted

in the text of the award document, to all

grants, cooperative agreements or letter

agreements awarded by the United

States Information Agency. As used in

these Terms and Conditions, all

references to the Grants Officer refer to

the officer, his or her successor or

designee, executing the award

document for the Agency.

III. Amendments

The agreement is subject to

amendment for such purposes as are

necessary to enable the grantee to assist

the Agency in the conduct of its

programs. However, requests for

amendments will not be considered

unless the Recipient is in compliance

with all reporting requirements

stipulated in the Agreement.

IV. Audits

Revised Circular A–133, which

implements the Single Audit Act

Amendments of 1996, provides uniform

single audit requirements for all nonfederal grantees—state and local

governments (including Indian tribal

governments), colleges and universities,

hospitals and other non-profit

organizations (however non-U.S. based

entities are exempt). It applies to audits

of fiscal years beginning after June 30,

1996.

V. Compliance With Federal and State

Laws

In the performance of the work

authorized pursuant to this award, the

recipient agrees to comply with all

applicable Federal and State laws, rules

and regulations which deal with or

relate to the employment by the

recipient of the employees necessary for

such performance.

VI. Convict Labor

In connection with the performance of

work under this award, the recipient

agrees not to employ any person

undergoing sentence of imprisonment

except as provided by Pub. L. 89–176,

September 10, 1965 (18 U.S.C. 4082

(c)(2)) and Executive Order 11755,

December 29, 1973.

VIII. Disputes

A. Except as otherwise provided in

this award, any dispute concerning a

question of fact arising under this award

that is not disposed of by agreement

shall be decided by the Grants Officer,

who shall reduce his/her decision to
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 136 /Thursday, July 16, 1998 / Notices 38451

writing and mail or otherwise furnish a

copy to the recipient. The decision of

the Grants Officer shall be final and

conclusive unless, within thirty (30

days from the date of receipt of such

copy, the recipient mails or otherwise

furnishes to the Grants Officer a written

appeal addressed to the Director of the

United States Information Agency. The

decision of the Director’s authorized

representative for the determination of

such appeal shall be final and

conclusive unless determined by a court

of competent jurisdiction to have been

fraudulent, or capricious, or arbitrary, or

so grossly erroneous as necessarily to

imply bad faith, or not supported by

substantial evidence. In connection with

any appeal proceeding under this

clause, the recipient shall be allowed an

opportunity to be heard and to offer

evidence in support of this appeal.

Pending final decision of a dispute, the

recipient shall proceed diligently with

the performance of the award and in

accordance with the Grants Officer’s

decision.

B. Any failure by the parties to agree

on the allowability or allocability of

costs under this award shall be

considered a dispute concerning a

question of fact for decision by the

Grants Officer within the meaning of

this clause.

C. This Disputes clause does not

preclude consideration of legal

questions in connection with decisions

provided in paragraph (A) above:

Provided, that nothing in this award

shall be construed as making final the

decision of any administrative official,

representative, or board on a question of

law.

VIII. Examination of Records (OMB

Circular A–110)

The United States Information

Agency, the Inspector General, the

Comptroller General of the United

States, or any of their duly authorized

representatives, have the right of timely

and unrestricted access to any books,

documents, papers, or other records of

the recipient that are pertinent to the

award, in order to make audits,

examinations, excerpts, transcripts and

copies of such documents. This right

also includes timely and reasonable

access to a recipient’s personnel for the

purpose of interview and discussion

related to such documents. The rights of

access in this paragraph are not limited

to the required retention period, but

shall last as long as records are retained.

IX. Payment of Interest on Recipient’s

Claim

A. If an appeal is filed by the recipient

from a final decision of the Grants

Officer under the disputes clause of this

award, denying a claim arising under

the award, simple interest on the

amount of the claim finally determined

owed by the Government shall be

payable to the recipient. Such interest

shall be at the rate determined by the

Secretary of the Treasury pursuant to

Pub. L. 92–41, 85 Stat. 97, from the date

the recipient furnishes to the Grants

Officer a written appeal under the

Disputes clause of this award, to the

date of (1) a final judgement by a court

of competent jurisdiction, or (2) mailing

to the recipient of a supplemental

agreement for execution either

confirming complete negotiations

between the parties or carrying out a

decision of a board of contract appeals.

B. Notwithstanding (A) above, (1)

interest shall be applied only from the

date payment was due, if such date is

later than the filing of appeal, and (2)

interest shall not be paid for any period

of time that the Grants Officer

determined the recipient has unduly

delayed in pursuing remedies before a

board of contract appeals or a court of

competent jurisdiction.

X. Refunds

A. If any of the funds made available

to the recipient are unexpended upon

the expiration or termination of the

award, as of the due date of the final

financial report, a check made payable

to the United States Information Agency

for the unexpended balance shall

accompany the final financial report(s).

B. Subsequent Refunds

The recipient shall refund to the

Agency all refunds, rebates, or credits,

received after submission of the final

financial report. The recipient may,

however, deduct from any such refunds,

rebates, or credits all bona fide costs

incurred by the recipient prior to the

expiration date of the agreement but not

billed to the recipient until after

submission of the financial report.

When subsequent transactions of this

nature occur, a notice shall be sent to

the Agency describing each item and

amount involved and indicating that

this subsequent notice amends the

report previously submitted. A copy of

such notice, together with the net

amount of the refund, shall be

forwarded to the Agency.

XI. Reports

A. Program—The agreement will state

the due date and the type of report

required for the recipient to fulfill its

program obligations. The program report

shall include the agreement number,

period covered and whether it is an

‘‘interim’’ or ‘‘final’’ report.

B. Financial—The agreement will

state the due date of the report. SF–269,

‘‘Financial Status Report’’ (sample

attached), should be used to report all

expenditures of funds. The report shall

include the agreement number, the

period covered, and whether it is an

‘‘interim’’ or ‘‘final’’ report. The final

financial report shall be certified by the

recipient’s chief fiscal officer, or officer

with comparable function and authority,

as follows:

‘‘I hereby certify to the best of my

knowledge and belief that this report is

correct and complete and that all outlays and

unliquidated obligations are for the purposes

set forth in the award documents.’’

C. If, for reasons beyond its control,

the recipient institution or organization

cannot submit the program and

financial reports when due, it should

request permission from the Grants

Officer to submit them at a later date.

XII. Subcontractors and Outside

Associates and Consultants

None of the substantive programmatic

work under a grant or other agreement

may be subcontracted or transferred

without prior approval of the USIA

Grants Officer. This provision does not

apply to the purchase of supplies,

material, equipment, or general support

services.

XIII. Termination

A. Termination for Cause

The Federal sponsoring agency may

reserve the right to terminate any grant

or other agreement in whole or in part

at any time before the date of

completion, whenever it is determined

that the recipient has failed to comply

with the conditions of the agreement.

The Federal sponsoring agency shall

promptly notify the recipient in writing

of the determination and reasons for the

termination, together with the effective

date. Payments made to recipient or

recoveries by the Federal sponsoring

agency under grants or other agreements

terminated for cause shall be in

accordance with the legal rights and

liabilities of the parties.

B. Termination for Convenience

1. The Federal sponsoring agency or

recipient may terminate grants and

other agreements in whole or in part

when both parties agree that the

continuation of the project would not

produce beneficial results

commensurate with the further

expenditure of funds. The two parties

shall agree upon the termination

conditions, including the effective date

and, in the case of partial terminations,

the portion to be terminated. The
38452 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 136 /Thursday, July 16, 1998 / Notices

recipient shall not incur new obligations

for the terminated portion after the

effective date, and shall cancel as many

outstanding obligations as possible.

2. The Federal sponsoring agency

shall allow full credit to the recipient

for the Federal share of the

noncancellable obligations, properly

incurred by the recipient prior to

termination.

XIV. Travel

A. Definitions

The terms used in this clause have the

following meanings:

1. ‘‘International air transportation’’

means transportation of persons (and

their personal effects) or property by air

between a place in the United States

and a place outside thereof or between

two places both of which are outside the

United States.

2. ‘‘U.S. Flag Air Carrier’’ means one

of a class of air carriers holding a

certificate of public convenience and

necessity issued by the Civil

Aeronautics Board, approved by the

President, authorizing operations

between the United States and/or its

territories and one or more foreign

countries.

3. The term ‘‘United States’’ includes

the fifty states, Commonwealth of

Puerto Rico, possessions of the United

States, and the District of Columbia.

B. Preference for U.S. Flag Air Carriers

1. Pub. L. 93–623 requires that all

Federal agencies and Government

contractors, subcontractors and award

recipients use U.S. Flag Air Carriers for

international air transportation of

personnel (and their personal effects) or

property, to the extent services by such

carriers is available. It further provides

that the Comptroller General of the

United States shall disallow any

expenditure from appropriated funds for

international air transportation on other

than a U.S. Flag Air Carrier in the

absence of satisfactory proof of the

necessity.

2. In the event that the recipient

selects a carrier other than a U.S. Flag

Air Carrier for international air

transportation, a certification must be

included on vouchers involving such

transportation essentially as follows:

Certification of Unavailability of U.S.

Flag Air Carriers

I hereby certify that transportation

service for personnel (and their personal

effects) or property by a certified U.S.

Flag Air Carrier was unavailable for the

following reason(s): (state reason(s))

3. The recipient shall include the

substance of this clause, including this

paragraph (3), in each subcontract,

subgrant or purchase hereunder which

may involve international air

transportation.

4. U.S. Flag Air Carriers—All

transportation of persons or property to

be paid with funds provided by the

agreement must be performed on a U.S.

Flag Air Carrier when such service is

‘‘available.’’ In all but the most unusual

circumstances, all travel that originates,

terminates or involves stopovers in the

United States must be on U.S. Flag Air

Carriers.

5. a. Examples of the ‘‘unavailability’’

of passenger service by a U.S. Flag Air

Carrier:

(1) When the gateway airport abroad

is the traveler’s origin or destination

airport, and the use of a U.S. Flag Air

Carrier would extend the time in travel

status, including delay at origin and

early arrival at destination, by at least 24

hours; or

(2) When the gateway airport abroad

is an interchange point and the use of

a U.S. Flag Air Carrier would require the

traveler to wait six hours or more to

make connections at that point; or

(3) When connecting with ongoing

flights at the gateway airport in the

United States would extend the

traveler’s time in travel status by at least

six hours.

b. U.S. Flag Air Carrier service will be

used to the furthest interchange point

with foreign carriers and foreign carrier

service will be used to the nearest

interchange point with U.S. Flag Air

Carriers which will not extend the

traveler’s time in travel status by more

than six hours between points of origin

and destination.

C. Economy Class Accommodations

In conformity with general U.S.

Government policy, it is the policy of

the Agency that persons traveling under

Agency programs use economy class

accommodations. There are exceptional

circumstances, however, when the use

of other than economy class

accommodations may be necessary. The

recipient may apply the following

limited guidance in determining

whether other than economy class

accommodations may be permitted.

D. Mode of Travel

1. Train Travel

(a) Sleeping Car Accommodations.

When overnight travel is involved, the

least expensive first class sleeping

accommodations available shall be

allowed. Higher cost accommodations

may be authorized or approved upon

certification by the traveler on the travel

voucher that the lowest cost

accommodations were not available or

that the higher cost accommodations

were authorized or approved by the

Agency for reasons of security.

(b) Parlor Car and Reserved Coach

Accommodations. For train travel

exceeding four hours, reserved coach

accommodations will be used to the

greatest extent possible. A parlor car

seat may be allowed when reserved

coach accommodations are not

available.

(c) Extra-Fare Trains. Travel by extrafare trains may be authorized when

administratively determined to be

advantageous to the Government or

required for security reasons. The use of

the Metroliner coach service is

considered to be advantageous to the

Government.

2. Air Travel

A. Policy

It is the policy of the Government that

employees or individuals on official

business using commercial air carriers

for domestic or international flights

travel in economy class

accommodations. The limited

exceptions to this policy are listed

below.

B. Exceptions to Economy Class Travel

May Occur When

(1) Regularly scheduled flights

between the authorized origin and

destination points (including

connection points) provide only

business class service. The traveler must

provide certification to that effect on the

travel voucher.

(2) Space is not available in economy

class accommodations on any scheduled

flights in time to accomplish the

purpose of the travel, which is so urgent

that it cannot be postponed.

(3) Business class accommodations

are necessary due to the disabling

condition of the traveler that other

accommodations cannot be used. Such

condition must be substantiated by

medical authority.

(4) Business-class accommodations

are required for security purposes or

because exceptional circumstances

make their use essential to the

successful performance of an Agency

mission.

(5) Economy class accommodations

on foreign carriers do not provide

adequate sanitation or meet minimum

health standards.

C. Authority for Business Class Travel

The authority to authorize or approve

business class air travel for exceptions

(1) through (5) above is lodged with the

Associate Director for the Bureau of
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 136 /Thursday, July 16, 1998 / Notices 38453

Educational and Cultural Affairs and

cannot be redelegated. The

authorization for business class travel

shall be made in advance of actual

travel unless circumstances make

advanced authorization impossible. In

these cases, the Program Officer will

obtain written approval from the

Associate Director as soon as possible.

3. Travel Arrangements and Payment.

If the funds are withheld by the Agency,

with payment made by the Agency or its

designated representative (Embassy), the

recipient institution/organization or its

designated representative will make all

arrangements for the travel authorized

in the agreement. Such arrangements

include planning the itinerary and

obtaining the tickets.

[FR Doc. 98–18697 Filed 7–15–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8230–01–M